Who's Gonna Love You Baby?
by TempestJo
Summary: A just-for-fun storey about Penny and what she'll do to avoid causing disturbance in Sheldon's Tuesday routine. Probably fluffy and maybe even OOC.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: A little something fun, it might be a bit OOC, but I'm going with it anyways. Hope you enjoy!**

**Who's gonna love you baby?**

Penny slumped onto her couch, dropping her bag at her feet like it weighed a ton, despite being nearly empty. She was done. Finished. The Cheesecake Factory was closing. In exactly one month, she would be be jobless. Approximately one month after that, she would probably be homeless too. The manager had called them all in for a meeting, and broke the news, announcing that there would be no transfers, no job spots at other locations. The whole crew was out of work.

It hadn't really sunk in yet. She had picked up a paper on the way home to scan the want ads, but she knew that the chances of getting something were pretty slim, with so many other servers out of work as well. Even if she did get a job, she'd be low man on the totem pole again, with the crap shifts and limited overtime.

It almost wasn't worth it to look for something in her current line of work.

Idly, she flipped through the want ads, not really seeing them. She was under qualified for most of them anyways, and not flexible enough for the 'strippers wanted' ones, she sneered at the paper sarcastically, knowing she'd go home to Omaha before she took to the poles. The mere thought of Howard finding out where she worked and bringing the guys in for a show and stuffing money in her g-string was enough to make her want to hurl. The look of scorn or bewilderment that would be on Sheldon's face...

"Oh crap." She sat up.

Sheldon. SHE would have to tell Sheldon that his Tuesday night schedule would be compromised.

With horror, she remembered his reaction when he found out about his usual cashew chicken having come from a different spot. She couldn't even buy out the rest of of the take out containers either and fake it because he was accustomed to coming IN to eat.

The situation she was in finally hit, and her hands started shaking.

She was going to be jobless. Homeless. And she was more worried about Sheldon's reaction to not getting his barbeque bacon cheeseburger with everything on the side on a cheesecake factory plate.

There was only one thing to do. Steal a plate, and promise to spend every Tuesday for the rest of her life making him a burger.

She sunk lower onto the couch and put her head in her hands. "Great, who's the wackadoodle now?"

~P~

The next morning, Penny got out of bed with a smile on her face. The night of restless sleep had produced a tiny germ of an idea, and if she could get it to work, there would be no need for her to find a new job, and even better, no need to tell Sheldon about the impending closure of the Cheesecake Factory. She would open her own restaurant. Preferably in the locale she currently worked in.

It was a long shot. She didn't have great credit, but she did have three things on her side. While most people knew she was from Nebraska and a few knew she had grown up on a farm, almost nobody knew that her godmother and aunt had successfully run a diner in Omaha for the last twenty years, and that Penny had practically grown up in the kitchen there. She even had all the kitchen certification, except for the poster on the wall graced by a culinary school's name, and even _better_ she knew a few chefs and wait staff who were soon to be looking for work. She wouldn't have to cook a thing.

If there was one thing besides cows and corn that Penny knew, it was how to run a restaurant. She'd never actually done it on her own, but observation had to count for something right? And as a teen she had gone over many supply orders and even haggled with distributors. The Cheesecake Factory might be bleeding money, but she knew why, she had even attempted to point out to the current manager several things that would both cut costs and improve the restaurant. She could do this!

The only thing that would stand in her way was the issue of money, and she knew exactly where to get it. When her grandparents had died ten years ago in a car accident, they had left some money behind, and it had been put into trust funds for her and her brother. Not enough to live on forever, but enough to start a new business and get started. Originally intended to cover university, it had been sitting in the trust fund since Penny dropped out, inaccessible without the executor's approval or until the day she turned twenty five.

Well, in a few months, she would be twenty five. With a good business plan, she felt confident the executor would grant her access to the money, and if they didn't, she would find a bank that would loan her exact amount of cash that was in the account.

Problem Solved.


	2. Chapter 2

Penny climbed the stairs to her apartment with a spring in her step. Things were finally going her way. She'd used the business manifesto that Sheldon had created for her Penny Blossoms business as a template and altered it to fit her new business plan. The executor had been impressed- enough to give her the money. or access to it anyway. After some back and forth, they had agreed that the venture would be overseen until her birthday. So she wasn't getting a lump sum, but all she had to do to get the money was show up with a statement of what she needed, and a money order would be sent straight to the distributors, lease agents, etc.

The Cheesecake Factory had six months left on their lease, and they had been happy to sign it over to her once her business registration had come in,; she'd even got a deal on it! Not only that, but she had been able to purchase the kitchen equipment as well, though she had sprung for a new dish sanitizer, which would be installed once The Cheesecake Factory officially closed.

One of the chefs had decided to move to another town, but the two others had agreed to stay on, as well as a few of wait staff. Her request for a liquor license was still pending, so for the first month or so there would be no bar, but that was fine. It was a miracle that she had gotten as much done in the last two weeks as she had. It had been long hours, time on the phone, research on the internet late into the night to the point of barely sleeping, but she hardly felt tired because the idea of being in control of her own destiny, _finally_, was so invigorating. Her aunt was a daily source of support and advice, and all the organizational plans and spending spread sheets that the boys had made her over the years were coming in handy now, not to mention the many episodes of _Kitchen Nightmares _she had viewed over the years. Now that it was a sure thing, green light from all sides, the first thing she was doing was reducing the menu.

In the next two weeks, she had to have a meeting with the chefs, decide which dishes they would specialize in, come up with a few deserts, and get the new menu's made. She had already chosen a name, it was kind of corny, but it had special meaning for her, every menu and the sign outside would be adorned with 'Tuesday's Place' in a silvery blue script. The sign of course, would not go up until after Sheldon was in the building, or else he might not come in at all.

So far, she had managed to keep it from him. She wasn't even sure why it was such a big deal that she should, but she wanted it to be a surprise. To prove that she not only could do something, but that she could make a success out of it. It would be validation. Maybe she didn't graduate college, maybe she hadn't made it big as an actress, maybe she didn't build crappers for outer space, but she was the owner of a restaurant. She was taking the initiative.

Howard knew, because of Bernadette, but he'd promised to not tell, on threat of Bernadette bringing a toxic virus and infecting him with it, and also because his uncle owned a hardware store, and Penny wanted to be able to get a discount on paint there. She wasn't going to be able to change everything, but a nice coat of white on the walls and ceiling would do wonders. The Cheesecake Factory was scheduled to close on a Wednesday, she would open on the Saturday. Two days to deep clean and disinfect and paint. Her aunt and Dad were flying in to help, and the wait staff would be there as well,. She would be paying them, but it was important to get a new group feeling established as soon as possible.

As her steps lead her to her door, she knew that she would love to have the boys help too, but they would mostly just be in the way, Raj had probably never lifted a paint roller in his life, and both Howard and Leonard were too short and, she had to admit, more likely to go hide in the bathroom with their computers. Sheldon would be valuable in the cleaning though, especially in the kitchen. She'd have to see if she could come up with a way for him to help without finding out, although it did seem kind of like tricking someone into wrapping their own birthday present.

"Penny?" The voice interrupted her thoughts. She spun around, blinking, hoping she hadn't been talking aloud.

Sheldon had his head out the door of his apartment. "Are you coming over for Thai tonight? You've been scarce lately and there is the matter of extra rolls."

She smiled. "Yup, give me a minute and I'll be right over."

He nodded and continued looking at her, like he had something on his mind.

She sighed, "What?'

"You missed Halo night."

Penny winced. She'd been so busy.. "Ah, yeah, sorry about that Sheldon, I've been really busy at work lately." A light bulb flickered in her brain and she grinned. "I've been promoted."

"Oh good." He perked up noticeably. "Now you'll be able to do something about the brand of ketchup you carry. I've sent hundreds of emails about it."

"Well, send _me_ one then, with the information about the better product, and I will see what I can do." She replied seriously, opening her apartment door and stepping in, smirking. Her acting lessons might still come in handy after all.


	3. Chapter 3

CH3

The night the Cheesecake Factory officially shut its doors, the rush was on. The kitchen was stripped, bleached, reassembled in a more efficient layout and new sanitizers installed and ready. The dining area was deep cleaned and painted. The tables and chairs were laid out in a new formation, save one table, which was put back exactly where it had been for the last four years.

Windows shone and silverware gleamed, not a three-tined fork in sight. Napkins were disposable, packets of antibacterial hand wipes joined sugar packets in little blue bowls, and salt and pepper shakers graced the middle of every table, along with Sheldon's preferred ketchup. One page menus on pristine white paper with large print were laminated and waiting and new uniforms were handed out to the new staff, comprised of a handful of servers, two chefs, and a busboy. New duties were assigned and discussed, new guidelines implemented.

By the time the doors on Tuesday's Place opened, Penny was exhausted.

But it was _so_ worth it.

Brought in by the enticing smells and the sparkling interior, customers came in through the doors in a steady stream. By Tuesday, the staff had found their rhythm. Tuesday night the place was packed. By six o'clock, only one table remained open, with a reserved sign on it. Penny watched the door anxiously, waiting.

The big test. Would Sheldon approve?

He came through the door, blinking in bewilderment, his eyes searching the room for her, while Leonard gaped at the crowd and the new paint. She hurried over to them.

"Hi guys!"

"Penny, what happened to The Cheesecake Factory?" Sheldon asked, alarm written all over his face.

She just smiled and led them to their usual table, whisking the reserved sign off it and setting out the menus.

"Tuesday's Place?" Leonard read.

"I don't understand!" Sheldon mumbled.

"The Cheesecake Factory closed." Penny stated. "So I started my own restaurant." She tapped Sheldon's menu. "Look, I kept your regular dish on the menu so it wouldn't disrupt your schedule."

"The Cooper Special." Leonard noted. "Do I have a dish named after me too?"

"That would be the lactose intolerant one." Howard quipped.

Leonard shot him a dirty look, and Penny smiled down on them. "So guys, what will it be?"

Sheldon held up a finger. "I will have the Cooper Special, and are those antibacterial hand wipes?"

"Yes." Penny nodded. "And I changed the ketchup brand too."

"Will wonders never cease?" Sheldon smiled.

Penny just grinned. "Wait till you see the state of the art sanitizer in the kitchen."

"You have a sanitizer?" Sheldon's head spun around. "Can I see it?"

"After you eat, you can even try it out." She replied.

He turned his eyes on his companions, who were looking at the menu still. "Hurry up and order! What are you waitin' for? A blue moon?"


	4. Chapter 4

The days turned into weeks, and the restaurant continued to do well, earning a reputation for reliable food (Thanks in part to Sheldon's insistence that every dish be made exactly according to directions) and a clean and comfortable eating space. A crowd of regulars filled the tables every meal, and laughter could usually be heard coming through the doors out onto the street. Everyone agreed, Tuesday's Place was a great place to come and eat, and the employees agreed that it was a great place to work as well.

Penny's evenings were spent working the room and the kitchen, tallying up reciepts and invoices in the office and checking to make sure that inventory was good. She smiled a lot more than she used to. Her office now had one desk, with two chairs, and a few whiteboards too, as Sheldon had taken to doing his "home" work at the restaurant, where he could not only eat his favourite foods but also take on menial labour whenever he got stuck, which wasn't as often as it seemed, for he really did enjoy using the sanitiser.

They made a good team.

Sheldon had quickly realised that when Penny appeared to be having trouble with a male customer, appearing at her shoulder and telling her she was needed in the kitchen often seemed to make the issue going away. He wasn't sure why, but attributed it to his imposing height and obvious mental capabilities. He usually missed the relieved bright smile that Penny sent his way.

She in turn thought nothing of pulling him over to indtroduce him to someone she thought he might be interested in knowing, or deferring to him when a customer asked why a brand of condiment had been switched or why something had been taken off the menu. Usually after he was a few sentences in, the customer would get a glazed over look and agree that of course, if that much thought had gone into the decision, then Sheldon and Penny must be right.

This worked very well for them.

It wasn't until the restaurant was reviewed in the local paper that Penny realised how it looked. She was sitting in the office, reading the daily when she spotted it.

_**Tuesday's Place**_

_On the Tuesday of last week I had the opportunity to drop by a little restaurant that I have been hearing about from my friends. On the corner of Maple and Elm, in the location formerly kept by the now defunct Cheesecake Factory, sits this comfortable family restaurant owned by Mrs. Penny Cooper and run by herself and her husband Dr. Sheldon Cooper. The facilities are immaculate as is the dining room and I was assured, the kitchen- the center of which is a new multi-dish sanitiser. The food itself is good, with generous servings and witty names such as The Cooper Special, and Newton's Pie. Though the restaurant is not licensed to sell Alcohol at the present time, I give this restaurant four stars out of five for reliability, cleanliness, and the cheerful and educated staff._

Her mouth was hanging open when Bernadette came in.

"What's that?" Bernadette smiled prettily.

"We got reviewed." Penny said slowly. "We got four stars."

"That's great!" Bernadette cheered. "Wait, why aren't you smiling?"

Penny looked up at her dazed. "They think Sheldon and I are married!"

"Oh, I thought you wanted people to think that, with the way you two are always smiling at each other."

"What?" Penny blinked.

"You should watch the security footage." Bernadette smiled. "It's a great act! He does protective husband very well, that perv that used to bug you hasn't pinched your bum in weeks!" She put down a stack of receipts on the desk and turned away, looking over her shoulder at Penny again. "The front is all closed up now, good-night!"

Silently Penny waved and moved the receipts to their proper location, a bit of Sheldon's organisation had worn off on her, she knew, but she didn't think they were giving off _that_ much of a vibe. She flipped her computer on and accessed the day's security footage, then started watching.

He did hover- a bit. And she turned to him a lot. On the video she saw all the smiles she gave him, all the ones he returned when she wasn't looking. The touches on her back when he wanted her attention without interrupting, that she had always assumed came from the end of his pen, but now saw were in fact one of his long fingers as his hand hovered at her back, not quite touching her. Their mocking glares across the room that ended in shared smirks, and how she could call him over with just a look and tilt of her head, how she automatically set a seat for him at exactly six o'clock with his drink and his plate and then sat down across from him to eat her salad.

She knew that most of their conversation was about business, but now she saw how it _looked_. She was watching it again when Sheldon wandered in staring down at some papers in his hand.

"Penny, are you aware that sea salt is highly recommended for cooking these days? I have been comparing boiling times and resulting taste differences and I have reached the conclusion that if we were to switch we could cut down our cooking time of pasta by 3 percent, and use one third less salt. I have compiled a list of acceptable brands and suppliers for you to look at." He said.

"Sheldon, people think we are married."

He looked up at her and blinked. "Why?"

"Because we act like we are married. I know, I was surprised too."

"But we don't fight, and we don't partake in sexual intercourse or share an address or a bathroom." He frowned.

Penny handed him the newspaper and pointed out the article.

"Mrs. Penny Cooper." He read. "Well, obviously this reviewer is not up to snuff, he didn't even check the restaurant registry or the operating licences to see what your real name is." He paused. "Though I do agree with everything else he wrote, I think Newton's Pie is far wittier that Apple Pie."

"So it doesn't bother you?" Penny raised an eyebrow.

"Not nearly as much as the money you are spending on salt when you could switch." He replied, attention back at the papers he'd brought in.

Penny had to smile. If he wasn't bothered by the mistake, she wouldn't be either. As the video footage showed, having Sheldon around as a pseudo husband was far more effective than the standard Jerk ring, and it wasn't like she had time to date. There could be worse things than being married to Sheldon, and a four star review would be good for business.

She watched as he turned to his white board and began scribbling an equation on it, his dark hair perfectly in place, his blue eyes sparkling as his mind worked at a speed she couldn't attempt on her best day, his cheeks flushed from the heat of the sanitiser he'd been operating minutes ago.

Yup, there could be worse things indeed. And who knew what the future might hold?

Out in the kitchen, a song played on the radio, a song that Penny had come to think of as a personal anthem of sorts, something that inspired her.

"Don't tell me you can't be saved  
You can find a way  
Whoa oh to hold on ...

Yeah you've got the world to see  
You've got everything that you need ...

Who's gonna love you baby?  
Who's gonna love you now?  
Lazy Susan turn yourself around.."

She'd certainly turned her life around. Her eyes rested on Sheldon for a second more and then she turned to the days receipts, still smiling, wondering if she could bribe him to accompany her to her cousin's wedding later in the year...

THE END.

AN: The song is Lazy Susan by Sweet Thing, the above is excerpts from it, not in order, it indirectly inspired this story, and thus the name of it, in that through changing her life, Penny learns to love herself.

A Jerk ring is a fake wedding band or engagement ring worn by someone to ward off unwelcome advances from the opposite sex.


End file.
